James buchanan mitchell



(No Model.) v J. B. MITCHELL.

FOUNTAIN EEN.

No. 373,677. Patented Nov. 22, 1887.

N. PETERS. Phamumngmpmn wnshngiuu. D c.

i UNITED STATES PATENT ErrcE.

JAMES BUCHANAN MITCHELL, OF NEW' YORK, N. Y.

FOUNTAIN-PEN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 373,677, dated November22, 1887.

Application tiled January 18, 1856, Serial No. 188,835, (No model.)

To @Z whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES BUCHANAN y MITCHELL, of the city, county, andState of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement inFountain-Pens, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to the annexed drawings, forming partof this specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a fountainpen in which theinkwill flow freely without escaping in such quantities as to smirch orblot the paper or soil the hands.

My invention consists in the hereinafter-de scribed iustrumcntalitiesfor attainingsaid objects. y

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is aside view of my fountain-pen.Fig. 2 is a view of a part ofthe same with the pocket of elastic rubber,which surrounds the pen and lower part of holder, removed. Fig. 3 is alongitudinal section of the instrument with the point-cover in place.Fig. 4 shows the elastic pocket. Fig. 5 is a cross-section of the lowerpart of the barrel, showing the slots in which the pen is held. Fig. 6is across-section of the pen. Fig. 7 is a longitudinal section of amodified form of the point-cover.

A represents the barrel of the instrument, which may be composed of twojoints or sec` tions screwed together, as shown, in the lower of whichthe pen B, which is preferably of a less concave or raised forni thanthe peus in generai use, is inserted and held by its longitudinal edgesin the slots b.

c is an elastic iluidtight pocket formed of the tube c and the conicalor tapering eXten sion c" of the same, of elastic rubber or otherliexible material, through which the point of the pen B projects. In therear of the pen is an imperforate diaphragm, D, which is constructedintegral with the barrel and covers the cross-sectional area of thesame. At either side of said diaphragm apertures e areformed in the bodyof the barrel.

The outer surface of the barrel is raised in that part of it throughwhich those apertures which open into the reservoir are made in theforni of aprojectiomwhich may be of any shape such that it can bedistinctly felt through the thin elastic tube c by the fingers of thewriter. It will be seen that by this construction the orifices e and theelastic tube c together forni a valve connecting the barrel-chambers onthe two sides of the diaphragm D. When the elastic tube c istransversely compressed over the projection F between the thumb andfinger, it rises in a slightly-bulging form or buclrles7 over theapertures, forming a trough in its under surface, through which ink willpass toward the pen, escaping from the barrel above the diaphragm D andre-entering below'it. The projection F is not indispensable to theproper compression of the rubber for this purpose, but adds verygreat-ly to the convenience and precision with which it can beaccomplished by indicating the exact position ofthe apertures e andpreventing the thumb and finger from slipping toward each other over theconvex surface of the barrel in the act of opening the valve. It will beseen that the valve above described is formed by the apertured barreland the tubular section c of the elastic pocket c, independently of thetapering section c, as the ink, after passing below the diaphragm D,might be conveyed to the point of the pen by a trough, tube, or othermeans, in combination with which the valve would still be of great use.

The peu may be of the form of the splitnibbed pens in general use; but Iprefer that it should be raised7 but little, so that it shall departless from a dat form, and the space between the concave surface of thepen and the inner surface of the tapering pocket surrounding it shall bethin, in order that it may retain ink by capillarity and prevent it frompassing too freely to the point of the pen.

The pen may be held in position by a variety of means; but I prefer toinsert it by its longitudinal edges in longitudinal slots b, formed forthe purpose on the inner surface ofthe tubular holder. Vhen thusinserted, the pen is securely held and the following advantages aregained: When the holder is of hard rubber and a gold pen is crowded intoclose Contact with that material over its entire width, the sulphurcombined with the rubber, as is well known to makers of gold pens, actsupon and penetrates the alloy of the pen, so that it becomes brittle andoften cracks or splits after a time under the pressure by which it isheld in place in the holder. This evil'is IOO obviated in my device,above described, because the pen comes in contact with the holder onlyat its edges, where it is held by a light pressure, and the surfacesexposed to the action of the sulphur are very small. This method ofinsertion has also the advantages of being simple and secure, and ofbringing the point of the pen of attened form approximately in the lineof the axis of the tubular holder, which gives the Writer asteadier andeasier control of the pen than when it is inserted at one side of theholder in the ordinary manner. to fountain-holders, but adapted to alltubular pen-holders. y

In order to prevent the pocket c from being forced downward on thebarrel and pen by the pressure ofthe hand, I form a band or projectingring, g, at or near the foot of the barrel, over which the pocket c istightly stretched, and thus held at a suitable distance above the pointof the pen.

To protect the point ofthe pen from injury when not in use I provide apoint-cover, H. Near the closed end of this point-cover I insert apartition or diaphragm, h, of any suit able material, through an openingin which the point of the pen shall project intoa Wastechamber, K. Theobject of this chamber is to receive and retain any small amount of inkthat may escape from the peninto theend of the point-cover when the penis laid down or carried in the pocket, so that such ink may not quicklyspread upward on the lower part of the holder and be communicated to theiingers when the pen yis used. The partition might be of hard materialand integral with the point-cover; but I prefer to make it of elasticrubber, so that the opening will adj ust itself to the form of the penprojecting through This device is obviously not conti ned it. It'may besecured in place by a variety of means, as by a ring of hard materialcrowded or screwed against it, as shown in Fig. 7; but I prefer tosecure it by uniting with it a thick ring or shorttube, h', of elasticrubber, crowded into the closd end of the point-cover, With thepartition h attached to and extending over the end of the tube h', thatis nearest to the holder, as shown in Fig. 3.

I claim as my inventionj 1. In a fountain-pen, the combination of theexible tube c with the barrel A, provided with the diaphragm D andapertures e, and

having upon that part of its outer ksurface` through which the aperturesare made the projection F, of any form such that it may be distinctlyfelt by the thumb and finger through the iiexible tube c',t0 the endthat the position oi" the apertures e may thereby be recognized and thetube c conveniently compressed over them, as specified.

2. A point-cover for a fountain-pen, having Within it .a chamber forcontaining waste ink,

formed bythe insertion near its closed end of a partition, of elasticrubber or other suitable material, through an opening in which the pointof the pen shall project into said chamber, substantially as described.

3. Apoint-eover for a fountain-pen. consisting ofthe tube H, closed atone end, combined With the circular partition h,of elastic rubber,having a perforation or opening to receive the point of the pen, unitedwith the thick tube h', of elastic rubber, as and for the purposespecified.

JAMES BUCHANAN MITCHELL.

Witnesses:

JOHN ALGERNON OWENs, WILLIAM C. CooK.

